colombia

well after 17 hours travelling we arrived in bogota colombia for a one night stopover before our final destination of cartagena . i have to say using a travel agent – in this case Journey latin america has  to be the way forward- not only did they organise all the flights – interconnections and the transportations with english speaking  drivers but they also prebook your seat on the flight. we were lucky to get the seats by the emergency exits which meant double the legroom!  and no more panicking whether you have clicked the right button, or adding insurance and car hire by mistake…….
bogota is the capital city and has a wealth of museums – the most interesting being the museum of gold. we stayed in a small boutique style hotel, Hotel de la Opera right in the heart of the old town- 2 old 17 c houses combined with roof terrace restaurant, not over modernised, but simple with everything you need.   we ate in a local restaurant, el gris gato, which was perfectly nice with live music. to be honest, bogota is not usually a choice for holiday visiting, but its one of the main routes to get to cartagena, so its perfect as a stopping point.  what you do have to be aware of is altitude sickness – its so high, as you climb the city’s streets, you will find yourself short of breath and possibly dizzy as your body is trying to climatize itself.

the next morning, we took an hours flight to cartagena – to the beautiful tropical old town by the caribean sea.  the difference in temperature from bogota to cartagena is immense – from 20 C to 30 C !  we are staying in the santa clara – a converted monastery built within, but keeping the facade of the old walls of the fortified town – with its beautiful central courtyard and lush tropical garden its just perfect to base yourself.   we havent been to cartagena for exactly 17 years, we had our honeymoon here and this hotel was just being restored at the time.   we just rented a private house.  there were no hotels in the old town, just tiny guesthouses, more aimed at backpackers,  but now there are an abundance of boutique styled hotels within all the restored 16C merchant houses.  its worth remembering that it is very hot between 12 noon and 4pm, so not good to walk around, so choosing a hotel with pool is a great advantage.